In the latest edition of ESPN’s NBA power rankings published earlier this week (week 10), the Brooklyn Nets were ranked as the sixth-best team in the league and fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference. At the time the article was published (Dec. 21), the Nets were 19-12. Since then, they are 20-12 after manhandling the Golden State Warriors in a lopsided 143-113 victory on Wednesday.
The teams sandwiching the Nets in the list are the fifth-ranked Denver Nuggets and seventh-ranked Phoenix Suns. As of the writing of this piece, Brooklyn is riding a season-high seven-game winning streak into Friday’s showdown against the first-ranked Milwaukee Bucks. If Brooklyn can take care of business against the Bucks and the fourth-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, the Nets could move up the list for next week’s edition.
Here’s what ESPN had to say about the Nets’ season thus far:
“It’s not too early to put Jacque Vaughn in the NBA Coach of The Year conversation. The Brooklyn Nets head coach has helped spearhead one of the league’s most dramatic turnarounds in the early season, as the Nets have gone from controversy-laden underachievers to one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference.
Vaughn’s leadership and some brilliant play from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving over the past few weeks have Brooklyn looking like the type of contender it was during the 2020-21 campaign. The team’s stars look focused and motivated to make a run, and the Nets could end up being a real threat to the now-struggling Boston Celtics.”
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